Vegan food box company popular with non-vegans too

Monday, 8 July 2019

Sure meat replacements and cheese alternatives are vegan, but what's the point?

Vegan food box company, The Kai Box, says many of its 3000 plus customers aren't vegan.

With the plethora of food delivery companies on the market today all competing for the consumer dollar, The Kai Box has carved out a niche supplying vegans that wanted to make their life a bit easier.

But co-founder John Mellow said that as the company has grown, more non-vegans have signed up.

'They just want to have a few nights a week where they're not eating meat and you can imagine, you just need a bit of help. They'll even switch it up and have a fortnightly box, or one week they'll have us and the next they'll have My Food Bag.'

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Mellow founded the company in 2016 with wife Saskia Mellow and the couple have been building the company for over three years from East Tamaki.

They've never advertised beyond a few Facebook posts. Instead, word of mouth has led to more than 3000 registered customers, and the business trebled in the last financial year, John Mellow said.

The Kai Box is a vegan food box delivery service that operates out of East Tamaki.

After a-year-and-half The Kai Box expanded out of a garage and into a warehouse where it now had 14 support staff, in a mix of full and part time roles.

The couple used to be run-of-the-mill 'omni's' - omnivores, who included meat in their diet.

John Mellow is a regular ironman, triathlon and Brazilian jiu jitsu competitor, training up to 14-hours-a-week, but after seeing two vegan Netflix documentaries, Forks Over Knives and Vegucated, they became vegan overnight.

'Even the kids.'

Then Saskia Mellow began experimenting with recipes and after a year they launched The Kai Box.

'We had an experience that we thought we could share with those people wanting to go vegan or eat more plant-based,' Saskia Mellow said.

The Kai Box offered an easy way into a plant-based diet, John Mellow said.

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Spinach and pea risotto from The Kai Box.

John and Saskia Mellow founded The Kai Box.

The meals are straightforward to prepare, with the most complicated not meant to take longer than 40 minutes. Options include spinach and pea risotto and Mexican bean soup.

'I can prepare them, and I'm not a cook,' John Mellow said.

The company sources vegetables from a variety of suppliers, some local, but the bulk is ordered through T&G.

'As our ingredients change each week it can get very tricky going direct to farms, so we have a wonderful buyer who sources our food,' John Mellow said.

The service delivers nationwide but the largest customer base is in Auckland. However, rural customers can have their boxes delivered either to work or to a depot for collection.

The options are limited — there's a larger box for families, which retails for $105, with a gluten free option for $115 and, and an extra large box for $125. The couples box retails for $85 and the gluten free version for $95.

This compares well to its non-vegan competitors. Emma's Food Bag's prices range from $135 to $192 for either two or four people. My Food Bag's prices for a box that feeds four are between $169.99 and $209.99.

The couple has plans to introduce a low carb box in spring.

'There's been a lot more interest in the low carb diet, which can be controversial within the vegan community, many of whom prefer to eat low-fat high-carb. But that doesn't work for everyone,' Saskia Mellow said.

The pair also want to localise by setting up fulfillment centres in Wellington and Christchurch.

'The plant based movement is growing quickly, however we wouldn't ever have the same level of growth as My Food Bag in the same timeframe, just because more people eat animal products. It's gaining momentum year on year,' John Mellow said.